Beginning Again
by JackBarrowman
Summary: Jack breaks the first rule of time travel to save the future and the past. Purely a fix it fic. Beware large plot holes. Eventual NineJack Slash.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Beginning Again  
Author: JackBarrowman  
Rating: PG-13  
Summary: Purely a fix it fic. Beware large plot holes. Eventual Nine/Jack Slash.  
Disclaimer: Characters, setting, and situation belong to R.T. Davies, I'm just havin' a bit of fun with em.  
Dedication: To anyone with enough pity to actually want to comment on this.

_I know I'm breaking the first, most fundamental rule of time travel, meddling in my own past. But if I don't… Well you're about to find everything and lose it again in the blink of an eye. Maybe, just maybe if you follow my instructions you'll be able to keep hi- it.  
Go now, or tonight at the latest, to station A-18 on June 2, 45876L-lime. Swenson will be expecting you to take delivery of a variable wave form controlled direction delta wave generator. It's paid for. If he has a black eye apologize, you were having a bad day. And I no longer take kindly to my ass being pinched. By the likes of Swenson at any rate.  
Restock on A-18, I don't know how long the next bit will take. Place the ship in orbit of Earth in the year 199900, then run the scanning program I've installed. You should detect a single ship that reads as a Dalek cruiser. If it's not alone make a show of stopping by a tourist city, though don't drop the cloak until you land. Then try going further back, say another hundred years.  
I suppose I should give you a bit of background, don't want you to think I'm using you, even if I am you.  
The myths… Stories you've always heard about Time Lords and a great time war are true. They exist. Well they did anyway. Only one of the Time Lords survived the war. You'll meet him and that's all I can say about him. But as you can probably guess from that so did the Daleks. I know I was never one to believe in such a thing but they really are- were- evil incarnate. The Dalek Emperor survived the explosion that destroyed both the majority of his vast army and the Time Lords. He escaped but his ship was disabled, adrift in space and time. He ended up in the time period I'm sending you to, near earth. He slowly rebuilt his army and that's what I'm trying to prevent. And that's how I'm justifying doing something monumentally stupid. That millions of lives will be saved and centuries of damage will never happen.  
In order to save as many lives as possible it is imperative that upon finding the Dalek cruiser you set up the delta wave generator and adjust it until it is effective. The life signs readout on the scanner should be able to tell you that. It may take minutes our days. Once the Dalek Emperor is dead do whatever you need to do to seamlessly return to the con you are in the midst of. Just… be yourself.  
Please do as I ask,  
Jack._

Jack looks the letter over one last time, knowing for a fact that he is going to deliver it. It's up to the Jack that hasn't lived the last few months to make the final judgment call. And somehow that makes it seem less selfish, less wrong. If he still chooses to do this without knowing that it is a lover and not the planet he's trying to save then perhaps it will be a good decision. Finally resolved he returns to 1941, a few days before he begins the active part of his scheme to con the Time Agency. As he's planned he finds the Chula ship empty, installs the scanning program he's managed to piece to together with considerable effort and help, if it works as planned it should be able to bypass even Dalek technology. And waits for himself to return.  
"Wow, time has not been kind to me," The earlier Jack comments.  
"I don't really look any different."  
"Sure you do. You look… haunted. What could possibly have driven you to this?"  
"I've left you a letter about that. I only stayed so you'd have no doubt that it was actually me who wrote it."  
"Cryptic," The younger Jack comments in the last seconds before he's alone.


	2. Chapter 2

It takes almost twenty minutes for curiosity to get the better of Jack. Then he opens the letter, noting right from the start that the hand writing is inelegant and shaky, obviously a result of haste in its penning. After the first few lines he's thoroughly offended and muses aloud, "Do I think I'm stupid?"  
"Query unanswerable, please rephrase," The ship chirps at him.  
Jack laughs, "Nevermind." He finishes without further comment and takes his time considering what he's read. As he begins to program the destination he murmurs, "Who ever he is, I hope he's worth it."  
Upon arriving on A-18 it becomes clear that Swenson's black eye was not the only bit of odd behavior by his older self. It seems from every corridor and doorway people he knows well are watching him as if he were a particularly dangerous stranger. Pragmatically he decides to go with it. Following instinct over instruction he makes his way to the bar. The bar tender eyes him almost as warily as the others had, "Hypervodka?"  
"Not today Cam," He offers his most reassuring smile. "Gin and Tonic if you'd be so kind." He considers his options and decides it's best to simply ask, "Did I start a bar brawl or something last time I was in Cam?"  
The bartender makes an amused noise before answering, "Nothing like that Jack. You made several of my other customers feel like spacing themselves, but no one threw a single punch." He laughs outright at Jack's expression. "Leslie asked if you were going to buy her a drink this time or if she should feel really snubbed, you told her to go to hell. She left in a huff of course and you proceeded to get well and truly smashed. A state in which you began lecturing on true love and how 'un-fucking-fair' life is. Rather depressing really. Who were they and what did they do to you Jack?"  
Here Jack decides it's probably best to just bluff, "He was the love of my life Cam. And he died on me, just when everything was working out." From his reading between the lines he's fairly certain this is the truth of the matter.  
"I never thought I'd see the day."  
"How so?" Jack asks feeling just a bit annoyed.  
"Jack Harkness just called someone the love of his life."  
"Surprising as it seems it's true. But I admit I'd never have believed it myself. Anyway, where's Swenson setting up shop today?"  
"Level 38, bay 6. And fair warning, he's more than a little miffed about the black eye. Says he'll never work for you again."  
"Then I guess we'll both be happy. He's become a bit too… free with his attention for my taste of late. Thanks Cam."  
"Swenson's moved up in the world," Jack mutters to himself as he approaches bay six. This area is well shielded and clearly maintained, a sure sign of dangerous activity or products in a place like Satellite A-18. Which of course shouldn't surprise him, a delta wave generator is more than dangerous, it's the epitome of lethal. For the first time Jack pauses, a little uneasy about the power he's about to shoulder as though it were a trivial occurrence.


End file.
